While back home in Texas, we reverted to our usual
activities: pickleball, line dancing lessons and several performances at local fundraisers/senior
living facilities, volunteering at Mannafest (one of Livingston’s food
pantries), attending our Escapees community dinners/birthday
celebrations/ice cream socials, and catching up with friends.
Dedication of Livingston's 4 new pickleball courts at Matthews Park.
Playing on the new courts--no need any more to chalk out lines on the tennis courts!
Dancing at the Cold Spring Fire Department fundraiser, one of several Halloween performances in which we participated.
Dad displaying his silent auction winnings from the Cold Spring Fire Department fundraiser--all things Longhorns!
Conroe, Texas hosted a Balloon Glow and Laser Show, offering
tethered balloon rides.We were thrilled
for our first opportunity to provide volunteer crew services to Maverick
Balloon Adventures.(Though we volunteered at
the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 2022, we were involved only with RV guest parking. My parents’ other balloon foray was after
they enjoyed their first untethered flight in the 1990s, they became the volunteer chase team for the
balloon company. That was before GPS was
prevalent, so they would drive, using only road maps and visual sightings, to the
location where the balloon landed, which often was a corn field!).So, crewing for Patrick/Tess in Conroe was a
very cool, totally unique balloon experience.It is amazing how huge (and heavy) these balloons are!We got a workout holding the crown line
while the balloon inflated, trying to pull the balloon back down to the ground
after a tethered flight, and weighing the basket down to the ground so guests could
enter/exit.
Dad and Tess holding up the balloon sides so it can inflate.
Mom holding on tight to the crown line as the Maverick balloon inflates.
Thanks Patrick and Tess of Maverick Balloon Adventures for a terrific experience!
In the blink of an eye, it was mid-November, with Thanksgiving
and the holiday season fast approaching.We kicked off with a mini getaway to Fredericksburg, Texas. Here's a few photos from along our route.
My first thought was that these were some weird looking cows--until I realized they were actually zebras in the field!
This creepy crawler had the nerve to sit next to me on a bench.
A tribute to Stephen F. Austin in Bellville, Texas.
Inside a convenience store.
We met
up with friends Matt/Sherry (who recently exited the full-time RV lifestyle)
for us all to enjoy Fredericksburg’s annual Holiday Market and Historic House
Tour.Matt/Sherry made the gracious
offer to have us as guests at their lovely home, but my family does not like to
impose.So, we stayed at the historic Peachtree
Inn and Suites, which was voted Fredericksburg’s “Best” lodging in 2023.We booked a queen bed within the Inn, but
they gave us a king bed within a tiny house (Cabin H) across the street. It had a totally dysfunctional room set-up (the side of the bed was flush with the
wall, so Mom had to crawl across for entry/exit of the bed; the step down from the
bedroom to the kitchen/bathroom was precarious when walking in the middle of
the night; the nightstand was not within reach of the bed; the lamp on that
nightstand did not work; the kitchen was directly across from the bathroom, and
the refrigerator was actually WITHIN the BATHROOM!). Peachtree is a pet-friendly
establishment, and has 2 resident cats on the premises, Calli and
Shadow.Though we did not have any pets
with us during our stay, the guests before us in this tiny house clearly did,
based on the dog hair on the porch and inside the door entryway, which we swept
ourselves. Unless the rooms within the Inn offer a completely different
experience, we are not sure how Peachtree has received such good reviews/ratings, other
than its convenient location within walking distance to downtown.
The "Historic Peachtree Inn" where we booked a room...
...and the tiny house/cabin to which we were assigned.
Otto the Rooster stood outside The Blue House, another property owned/operated by the Historic Peachtree Inn.
Shadow expected me to act as his doorman.
No human was in the office, so Calli was working the desk. Suffice to say, customer service is not her forte.
Anyway, my family and Matt/Sherry perused the arts,
crafts, and delectable edibles at the Holiday Market, and visited the Pioneer Village located nearby.We enjoyed
seeing all the unique architecture and furnishings on the tour of historic homes/buildings.Our only disappointments were that no photos were permitted and that only 1 of the half-dozen homes was decorated for
Christmas since the event took place the weekend before Thanksgiving.(We have attended holiday
home tours for decades throughout several towns in New Jersey, New York, and
Pennsylvania during our sticks/bricks days, and we have continued the tradition
during our years in Texas. We have
always been amazed at the ingenuity and creativity exhibited with holiday
adornments. This was the first house
tour that lacked this attribute).
A diorama of Fredericksburg past.
The exterior of one of several historic structures in Fredericksburg's Pioneer Village...
...and one of its interior rooms decorated with period furnishings.
Once Fredericksburg's Courthouse, this 1882 building now serves as the public library.
We all dined together at several eateries of various cuisines within Fredericksburg (including our first taste of Korean B-B-Q at Eker’s), and got some early Christmas cheer viewing the lights, traditional German decorations, and ice skaters at the Marktplatz von Fredericksburg.
Breakfast at Nury's, one of several eateries we patronized in Fredericksburg.
One of the many unique downtown shops/boutiques.
We enjoyed the traditional German holiday decorations...
...at the Marktplatz von Fredericksburg.
What fun I had watching these youngsters and adults do their best to impersonate Hans Brinker.
We had another reason to visit Fredericksburg:to view the plaque my parents donated to the
National Museum of the Pacific War in memory of my beloved Grumpy Grandpa and
his service to our Nation.We learned of
this Honor Wall during our visit to the Museum in 2023, and my parents decided
then to make the required donation in 2024 for a milestone birthday in heaven
for Grandpa.My Rambling RV Rat Pack (yours
truly, Mademoiselle Rochelle, Nezumi, and Rat King) decided we would omit a
few bags of cheese doodles and some sacks of Babybels from our dietary
purchases to make our own small contribution to the cause.
Sherry was our “guide” for a side trip to the Hill Country
Arts Foundation in Kerrville, Texas, to visit “Stonehenge II”, a replica of its
namesake in Wiltshire, England.A 9-month art project, it is representative
of 90% height and 60% width of the original structure.Very cool!
The site now includes an Easter Island statue.
Dad purchased us all a delicious lunch at Billy Gene’s
restaurant, situated picturesquely along the Guadalupe River.
Then we all visited “The Empty Cross”, a
wonderful project of the Coming King Foundation.The
24-acre Sculpture Prayer Garden offers spiritual enrichment, comfort and
healing, and hope for eternal life in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.
As indicated on this placard (though difficult to tell from my photos), the entire complex is shaped like a cross.
The orange esperanza bushes were abloom.
We enjoyed sightseeing around Fredericksburg, spending time
with good friends, and creating happy memories. Along our return route to Livingston, we made
a pitstop at Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, Texas.They no longer offer tours, but we watched
operations from an observation deck (though photos are forbidden.)Founded in 1907 as Brenham Creamery, ice
cream was not added to the product line until 1911.The name
changed to Blue Bell in the 1930s.Though “tastings” are not free, my scoop of Texas’s finest ice cream was
well worth the buck from my cheese bank.So was the $6 I spent to buy Dad an early Christmas present: A Blue Bell
rubber duck for our Jeep!
We enjoyed a meal at Brenham’s local eatery, Shirley’s Sante
Fe Café.We so love to support our
Country’s small, family businesses.
Home in Livingston for Thanksgiving, we are grateful for the
blessings God bestows upon us:Dad’s
heart has been healthy, we have been safe on our travels, we have a roof over
our heads, and we have food on our table.And with Dad transitioning away from a full plant-based diet and eating
meat/poultry on occasion and in moderate portions, this Thanksgiving is extra
special.You
see, for the first time in 6 years, we are eating TURKEY for our Thanksgiving
feast!Bon appetit!
We used the rotisserie on our new Emeril Lagasse multi-functional gadget to cook our turkey breast. Browned yet moist--what a treat!
